Roomie talk—politics, advice for life and brownies

I’ve covered my internship; I’ve covered my fun. But I’ve left out a critical and perhaps most important aspects of my stay in D.C. — I owe a shout-out to my roomies.

I actually met two of my three roommates prior to my arrival in Washington. About a week after my acceptance into the Ford Motor Co. Program, I received a random “friend request” on my Facebook from a girl in Michigan. Annie, I discovered, was in the Ford Program. Chatting online about potential internship placements and D.C., we had no idea we’d be stuck living together.

From my college experiences, I know that most new acquaintances are shy, or stay calm and collect at first introduction. But when I first walked in Apartment 1601, Annie jumped up from her chair and hugged me in welcome. She was as bubbly as I was (although I remain “the ditzy blond” of our apartment). With an obsession with the Legislative Process, a passion for singing and an outspoken attention-demanding voice, I found an immediate accord in Annie’s energy and thoroughly admired the respect everyone seemed to give her. Annie’s knowledge of domestic politics and reasoning for her strong democrat alignment not only educated me in the explanations behind particular liberal positions, but helped me further define my own political nook—agreeing and disagreeing with her values.

Whether I need a laugh after stressing from homework, or simply boyfriend advice, Annie is always there with open arms … literally. When she knows I’m upset, she just looks at me and opens her arms for a hug. It actually makes me laugh. I guess she’s taken on the “mom” role for me in D.C., and for her advice and encouragement, I owe her so much.

Now in regards to my focus in global politics and international relations, I couldn’t have been better blessed with another roommate beside Elif. If I have a question about international politics, I go to my Turkish friend Elif. After picking her brain with questions, Elif has patiently shared her thoughts and knowledge on international hardball and cross-religious disputes. She knows, and supports her loyalties with vigor passion—I’ve learned a great deal.

As an American Turk, she’s brings … well let’s just say a breath of fresh air to any argument. But what’s even better is her ability to joke. Unlike many who get stuffy at being picked on, Elif actually makes fun of herself all the time. Witty and sarcastic, she can laugh at almost any joke. She’s obsessed with the color pink, sparkly jewelry and garlic. Should I add high maintenance? For that I call her amelah turkeea … “Turkish Princess” in Arabic. She calls me feelee … in Arabic, “my elephant.” (This truly captures our jokingly abusive relationship.)


Speaking of cultured people, might I add that Annie is half Hispanic and my last roommate, Krystara, is Native American? Along with “Blondie,” I’m the culturally-deficient, plain American and bland one of the group. (They laugh when I say this.)

Krystara hails from Washington state, she’s a Macaw Indian … AND she wears feathers (only for ceremonies, but we like to highlight that detail). We call her Buttercup — but don’t ask me why. Annie just started calling her Buttercup our first week in D.C. Krystara is going to school for physical therapy, and is definitely the calm, collected one of our group. She’s sugar sweet, and I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen her angry.

Cooking Dinner

To paint greater detail of our group, I added a list of pictures of our favorite things:

Midnight anti-stress brownies

See, we’re all interns, students and also community volunteers. Thus, we’re ridiculously busy, and consequently, we stress. This often means sleepless nights, worrying about getting everything done! But never fear … I simply make brownies from scratch at 1 a.m.

Eating “giant pizza” at Adams Morgan

Obviously, we love to eat! But this pizza might dominate all other foods. I want one right now.

Laptops

They might be our favorite tangible things. Yes—most definitely. The only sad thing is we don’t ever leave them alone, and computers, email, research, news Web sites and Facebook dominate our lives. Too bad I recently broke my laptop and have to buy an entirely new one! Any suggestions on branding? I’ve been “computerless” for about a month!

Head Under Water

I normally keep a busy agenda—but in the past two weeks, I’ve been struggling to say afloat with this hectic and demanding schedule.

Beside my internship, Monday programming and Thursday night classes for my program, I’ve taken advantage of D.C.’s various volunteer opportunities. Since I love to write, and I’m looking to get the most experience possible, I took on the position of editor for the Ford Motor Company Global Scholar’s newsletter. Entitled “Care for the World,” our tri-semester online newsletter features articles by the Ford Fellows regarding international affairs, government and the U.N. Millennium Development Goals. As editor of the newsletter, I collect and recruit students to write about their passions or concerns. I edit drafts, compose my own articles and send them to my advisor to be put on the Ford website. (View “Care for the World” at www.twc.edu/ford!)

Outside of our program, I joined an Israeli-Palestinian peace advocacy project. Every other Friday night, about 15 students and I get together to study the on-going conflict and prepare ourselves for lobbying. In late November, we’ll be on Capitol Hill talking with Senators and Reps., pushing for a two-state solution and pre-1967 borders in the region. Firstly, however, our group stresses the discontinuation of Israeli settlement expansion. The conflict is very twisted and so deeply rooted, built up from years without a bona fide agreement for peace. And the longer the solution is put off, the greater hatred is propelled. Actually, it’s very sad: a resolution should have been made years ago. If something isn’t done soon, I fear an escalation that will bite Palestine, Israel and the U.S. in the butt. To prevent an all-out “holy war,” we need a solution now.

Speaking of the Middle East, I think it’d be cool to mention I’m currently taking Arabic class in D.C. as well. Upon learning that Arabic was considered one of about 10 “critical” languages for businesses and government relations, my roommate Elif and I set out to find a beginning Arabic class in Washington. We visited the Middle East Institute in early September to inquire about classes. The next thing I knew I was enrolled in an eight-hour per week intensive language study. Since mid-September—and continuing through early November—I spend about four hours on Saturday and Sunday in a five-person Arabic class right off Dupont Circle. The very first day of class, my teacher claimed Arabic was easy to learn. “You write what you hear, and there are no tricks like English,” he said. Posh! It’s anything but easy. The sounds are different; you have to lean a new alphabet and the four ways to write each letter, so on so forth. It’s difficult, it’s intense, but I thoroughly enjoy studying the language.

Although I’m currently in a worried state, with my head under water from too many plans, I couldn’t/wouldn’t give up any activity for free time. The newsletter allows me to write about things I care about, and help other students enjoy the same expression. The advocacy group is a cause I feel very passionate about, and the group is something I wouldn’t have found in my hometown. It’s a civic engagement I couldn’t find anywhere beside D.C., and for that I’m grateful for the opportunity. Likewise, I don’t regret signing on to Arabic classes. Although I’m probably the slowest learner and last to pick up new words in our class, I recognize the language will further my career and allow me to engage studies of the Middle East as I haven’t before.

The Internship

From my past few entries, you might think I’m on a vacation—sightseeing, attending galas, frolicking around D.C., etc. But I don’t want to mislead you. My schedule is anything but lax, and today I’ll highlight my work at my internship.

I chose to intern with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration for two reasons: The first was to get a taste of public service or government work. The second reason was to further my writing skills in the Commercial Service’s Office of Communication and Marketing. Before I accepted the offer, my supervisor assured me I’d actually be writing—not answering phones, making copies and opening mail. He’s kept his promise, and with my choice I’ve been content.

A typical day:

I leave for the Metro at about 8:10 a.m. each day and return around 6 p.m. The bulk of my work is writing press releases for new embassy or office openings, announcing important events, or featuring companies and new contracts between American businesses and foreign firms. I’ve written about eight press releases used at U.S. embassies abroad including the countries Oman, Brunei, Libya, Cyprus and Nicaragua. The press releases are sent to the State Department, checked for any factual errors (hopefully none), translated into the desire country’s language, then shipped to our embassies and sent to the nation’s media. Consequently, I can’t read a single word of the final product’s translated pages.

My supervisor also has me writing success stories for businesses that have exported, witnessed a great increase in annual sales, hired more employees and therefore contributed to the local economy.

Last Thursday I worked with a specialty vehicle, manufacturing company in Ontario, Calif., writing a press release on a recent bloodmobile sale to Qatar. Upon getting the story and learning of the company’s great success, my simple press release draft turned into a two-day event honoring the firm. The city mayor agreed to highlight the new company’s simultaneous contributions to California’s economy and Qatar’s healthcare. I finished the release on the company, its latest sale, local employee growth and even wrote the speech the mayor used to present the award (speechwriting is a first for me!). Now the Secretary of Commerce is considering presenting a Department award to the same company.

My internship has been great. But since my tasks focus on international business, veering from my personal focus on international affairs and diplomacy, I’ve been using my out-of-class time to absorb the international political arena. I attend events, sit in on committee meetings and listen to speakers at least once a week.

So far I’ve heard Senator John Kerry (yes, former presidential candidate) grill newly appointed ambassadors to Turkey and Libya in a Senate Foreign Relations committee hearing; I’ve listened to five Pakistani journalists tell their stories about the challenges of reporting amongst death threats, religious extremism and a strict, regulatory government; I’ve listened to one political analyst’s thesis on Romanian minority language suppression; and I’ve attended two debates regarding the future of U.S.-Iraqi occupation.

Beside the events, Monday programming with The Washington Center has also enriched my knowledge in international affairs. For example: Last week, the Ford Fellow interns and I had breakfast with the Brazilian ambassador to the U.S. He talked about his country’s success and future challenges in meeting the Millennium Development Goals, and answered any questions we had regarding Brazilian policy.

The Brazillian Ambassador to the U.S. ... and the Ford Girls

Each Monday members of the Ford Program hear lectures represent the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, environmental stability activists or Africa’s development. We’ve also visited non-profits such as Bread for the World, headquartered in D.C. James Clyburn, House majority whip, motivated us last Monday to find our “nook” in the world, focus our passions and make a difference.

I feel like I’ve had a little piece of everything, yet there is still so much to do. I’ll cover more next week.